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Distribution Revolution Conversations about the Digital Future of Film and Television Edited by MICHAEL CURTIN, JENNIFER HOLT, AND KEVIN SANSON With a Foreword by Kurt Sutter Q3 University of California Press r Contents University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advanc ing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philan thropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more infor- mation, visit www.ucpress.edu. University of California Press Oakland, California Foreword vii © 2014 by The Regents of the University of California Acknowledgments ix ewe CARSEY·WOlf CENTER Introduction: Making of a Revolution 1 Michael Curtin, Jennifer Holt, and Kevin Sanson Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data STUDIOS Distribution revolution : conversations about the digital future of film Editors' Introduction 21 and television I edited by Michael Curtin, Jennifer Holt, and Kevin Sanson ; foreword by Kurt Sutter. Gary Newman, Chairman, 20th Century Fox Television pages cm Richard Berger, Senior Vice President, Global Digital ISBN 978-0-520-28324-4 (hardback) ISBN 978-0-520-28325-1 (paperback) Strategy and Operations, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment 37 1. Motion pictures-Marketing 2. Motion pictures- Distribution. 3. Television programs-Marketing. + Television Kelly Summers, Former Vice President, Global Business broadcasting. 5. Digital media-Influence. 6. Chief executive Development and New Media Strategy, The Walt officers-United States-Interviews. 7. Motion picture producers Disney Company 47 and directors-United States-Interviews. 8. Television producers and directors-United States-Interviews. I. Curtin, Michael, editor Thomas Gewecke, Chief Digital Officer and Executive of compilation. II. Holt, Jennifer, 1968-editor of compilation. Vice President, Strategy and Business Development, III. Sanson, Kevin, editor of compilation. Warner Bros. Entertainment PN1995.9.M29D58 2014 59 384'.84-dc23 Mitch Singer, Chief Digital Strategy Officer, Sony Pictures Entertainment 74 Manufactured in the United States of America 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 UPSTARTS 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Editors' Introduction In keeping with a commitment to support environmentally responsible Gail Berman, Founding Partner, BermanBraun and sustainable printing practices, UC Press has printed this book on 91 Natures Natural, a fiber that contains 30% post-consumer waste and Jordan Levin, President, Alloy Digital, and Chief meets the minimum requirements of ANSIINiso z39.48-1992 (R 1997) Executive Officer, Generate 101 (Permanence of Paper). vi I Contents Betsy Scolnik, Founder, Scolnik Enterprises 111 Foreword Christian Mann, General Manager, Evil Angel Productions 121 Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer, Netflix 132 Anders Sjoman, Vice President, Communication, Voddler CREATIVES Editors' Introduction Scott Frank, Screenwriter-Director Paris Barclay, Director-Producer Felicia D. Henderson, Writer-Producer Stanton "Larry" Stein, Partner, Liner Law 200 kurt sutter Patric Verrone, Writer-Producer and Former President, Writers Guild of America, West Digital delivery of film and television, like most hasty births, has Dick Wolf, Executive Producer and Creator, Law & Order 221 been clumsy, painful, and at times bloody. Appendix: Interview Schedule 235 kurt sutter Glossary 237 About the Editors 243 But once the schmutz is wiped off, the cord cut, and the baby's Index 245 mouth wrapped around a teat, one can appreciate and marvel at the new life. kurt sutter I know being a male and a failed gentile, I have no right using child birth as a metaphor or the word "schmutz" in a sentence. kurt sutter But curbing impulses-not necessarily my strong suit. Like the digital new age, I can be entertaining, unpredictable, and a bit scary. kurt sutter I believe DD is the future of film/TV. In the not-too-distant yet to-come, there won't be programming, just content & distribution. And porn. vii r viii I Foreword Acknowledgments And like all things that change an industry, with great power comes the need for thoughtful reflection, fiscal and ethical responsibility. kurt sutter But this is Hollywood, so with great power usually just comes a better table at Toscana. Responsibility and ethics are for the S&P folks. kurt sutter First and foremost, we thank the Carsey-Wolf Center at the University of Perhaps that's a bit jaded. But the truth is, fear is always the first California, Santa Barbara for the institutional support that helped make response to change. No one knows how DD will look in 2, 5, rn the interviews in this book possible. A number of individuals deserve spe years. cial recognition, most notably Constance Penley, Ronald E. Rice, Richard Hutton, and Nicole Klanfer. Members of the Carsey-Wolf Center Advi kurt sutter sory Board facilitated introductions and access. We are grateful for the enthusiasm they all have demonstrated for the interview initiative and We speculate, create, react, adjust. That's the equation at play our other research endeavors at the Media Industries Project (MIP). now: forecasts+$$$= startups+ consumer whims+ regulation= Joshua Green provided keen leadership in this project's earliest stages. confusion. Ethan Tussey and John Vanderhoef aided us with indispensable research assistance. Likewise, we thank Rebecca Epstein and Erin Lennon for their kurt sutter copyediting skills and Lorena Thompkins for her transcription services. Isabelle Carasso deserves credit for the initial concept behind our cover "Distribution Revolution" helps make sense of the mayhem. All design. we can do is keep the discussion going. That's what these profes At the University of California Press, Mary C. Francis and Kim Hoge sionals do. land masterfully guided this book through the publishing process (and did so, we might add, at breakneck speed). We thank them for their kurt sutter stewardship. Last, but certainly not least, we are indebted to the industry personnel From the studio to the lab, this book takes a thorough look at who spoke to us at length about the digital future of film and television. the incestuous and inevitable relationship between tech and We hope they find this book a testament to the productive potential of such entertainment. critical conversations between media professionals and academic research ers. Such collaboration has been a hallmark of Marcy Carsey's and Dick kurt sutter Wolf's vision for MIP since its inception in 2009. We thank them sincerely for their enthusiastic and unstinting support. So, buy the book and read it, bitches. IX Introduction Making of a Revolution Michael Curtin, Jennifer Holt, and Kevin Sanson In the past five years, the scramble to manage the digital future of film and television has sparked both turmoil and transformation, forcing indus try leaders to reconsider established maxims about how screen media are created, circulated, and consumed. We see it almost every day in the head lines of trade papers and the mainstream press. For example, the 2007 Writers Guild strike hinged on payments and residuals for network and cable television content being streamed online. After a long and bitter con flict, the writers finally settled when the studios agreed to pay them more for digitally distributed work. Although the strike was costly for all con cerned, the writers seemed to understand that a new era was dawning. Not only were digital platforms recycling content from other media, they also were becoming original creative forces in the entertainment industry. Netflix is perhaps the most obvious example. In 2013, the leading sub scription video-on-demand (SVOD) service surprised its cable and net work counterparts with prominent Emmy nominations for original pro ductions such as Arrested Development and House of Cards. Netflix says more original content is on the way. Meanwhile, Amazon and Hulu are rolling out their own programming. For now, these new shows look much like their broadcast and cable peers, but the programmers at the major SVOD services say that they don't need to play the ratings game and that they're aiming to break the mold with new approaches. Inflated rhetoric perhaps, but they have already proven that they are willing to leave tradi tion behind by releasing an entire season's worth of original episodes all at once, which has film and television companies abuzz with speculation about further innovations on the horizon. Of course the major media conglomerates have their own plans for the digital future. That became clear when Kevin Tsujihara was tapped to take 1 r 2 I Introduction Introduction I 3 charge of Warner Bros.' legendary Burbank studios, marking the first time developers-whose business models rest on their abilities to deliver pro a studio head was chosen from the home entertainment division, a unit gramming to tablets and mobile devices-continue to feed the rapacious that is now laser-focused on digital innovations. Remarkably, Jeff Bewkes, appetite for screen media wherever and whenever consumers want it. As a Time Warner's CEO, passed over his film and TV studio chiefs for the result, audiences are more fragmented than ever, and some even express post, raising eyebrows throughout the Hollywood community and likely frustration with what seems like too many choices from too many plat signaling that he no longer considers digital delivery simply an ancillary forms and services. Still, digital